A/N- The beginning is written differently in this chapter, well until the first cutoff, just a heads up.

Another important side note… did you guys here that Tom Felton did not deny that he and Emma Watson kissed? I just found out yesterday! He was being interviewed and the guy told Tom that Emma had said he was the only one that she had kissed in Harry Potter that turned her on just to get him to admit that they kissed and he didn't deny it. Tom's tweet later was (to the interviewer) "daveberry_tweet ps emma's 'turned on' comment, she will love u for making that up! i'll be honest and say dan & rupert definitely did lol" if you want to hear the audio of the interview it's on youtube, if you can't find it just message me! And for you major Feltson shippers that have been left in the dark for the past few days like me, apparently he also just tweeted, emma, (yes that's all) right after that interview but deleted it right after he tweeted it, people copied it though, so I saw the picture of it. Haha, anyways…

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, clearly.

Chicken

Hermione woke up with anxiety; she wiped her sweaty palms on the bed, and closed her eyes. Today was the day.

Draco slowly arose in bed and brushed back his knotty hair. A smirk played on his lips, it was finally here.

Hermione brought her knees up to her chest and put her head on them. She had been running this day through her head for the past two weeks. Rehearsed everything, but yet she felt unprepared.

Draco tossed off the covers from his half naked body and stood up. He had been waiting for this day, he was just going to let the events flow and go along with it. It was better that way for him.

Hermione bit her bottom lip; she could feel every emotion running through her at that moment. She felt like she was going to throw up.

Draco was ready to tell the school about them. It was getting him one step closer to telling his parents, and this was the easy part. And he was a bit excited to see everybody's reactions.

Hermione wished that she had more time.

Draco could not wait for tonight, he felt like throwing on his suit right now.

Hermione wanted to crawl under her bed and not come out.

Draco was ready.

Hermione was nothing close.

"Stop that," Ginny swatted her friends hand at the table in the Great Hall. Hermione dropped her hand and looked sheepishly at her friend. "You've been eating more of your nails then actual food." Hermione made a face.

"I'm nervous," Hermione whispered.

"Yes, and everybody can tell. So stop!" Ginny whispered back.

"Ginny," Hermione motioned at Harry, who had his face in the newspaper, and Ron who had his face in food. "I want you to tell them that tonight I will tell them what's been going on."

"Okay," Ginny told her. This was Hermione's plan; she wanted Harry and Ron to know that something was coming tonight so they wouldn't be as surprised as they would if they had no idea. She studied her friend's faces; this might be the last time, at least for a while, that they would be civil towards her. She would take advantage of it as much as she could.

"Harry," she put a hand over her friend's and smiled.

"Yeah Hermione?" He asked, looking over his newspaper.

"And Ron," she put her other free hand over his. Maybe she was taking this too far… "I just wanted to remind you guys that you are my best friends and nothing will change that." She smiled at them.

"You too 'Mione," Ron said through a mouth full of food.

"Hmm yes," she pulled her hands back. "That was fun, okay I'm going to go but I will see you guys later." She stood up from the table and exchanged a glance with Ginny. They all watched her leave.

"That was… odd," Ron said.

"Yes it was," Harry adjusted his glasses.

"So you guys, I need to tell you something." Harry and Ron looked at Ginny. "Tonight Hermione will tell you what's been going on between her and Malfoy."

"You know I've been thinking about that," Harry folded up his newspaper and set it down on the table. "Maybe Draco was in trouble and Hermione felt bad and offered to help him. And maybe she was afraid we would get mad about her helping him so she kept it a secret." Harry looked between Ginny and Ron.

"Maybe," Ron took a sip of his drink. "But what if Hermione and Draco have secretly been meeting up because…" he paused and looked at them for dramatic effect. Ginny's heart slammed against her chest. "They are now friends." Ginny watched as Harry broke into a smile and chuckled.

"That's a good one, Ron," Ron thought about it before shrugging.

"Yeah, hell would freeze over before that."

"Hermione would never befriend that jerk, remember a while ago when we caught them in here and he was bothering her?" Ginny frowned. "They would never become friends. They are too different."

"They are, aren't they?" Ginny bit her lip; she had not meant that to slip out.

"Yeah, they are." Ron agreed. Ginny felt bad, she was not helping her friend out at all. She stood up to leave before any more negative comments slipped out.

"I need to go to, see you guys later." She looked over at Harry and gave him a small smile. She had wished he had asked her to the dance instead of Dean. She should have asked him. When she found out that no one had said yes to him, she was going to make a move. Before she knew it he asked Luna to go as a friend, and she did not want to go alone so she accepted Dean's invite. "Okay, bye," she said awkwardly before leaving.

Hermione ran her hand through the silk fabric of her dress, a frown placed on her face. Why couldn't she just get happy and stay that way? She sighed and placed the dress down on the bed, smoothing out the edges. It was a beautiful dress, and it deserved to be worn by someone who wanted to be in it. Not her, Hermione did not want to put it on. Because she knew when she did, it was the moment of truth, literally.

She still had hours before she needed to get ready. Her stomach felt queasy and she regretted not eating breakfast.

Hermione stared at her dress. She loved Draco, she really did. She just wished there was an easier way to be with him. "Draco," she whispered, touching the fabric one last time before wrapping it up. It had gotten there just in time like the sales clerk said.

Hermione looked over at her door. She had not seen Draco all day; she hadn't even bothered looking for him in the Great Hall. And she blew him off in the bathroom, where they usually met up. But hopefully not anymore.

She figured she should go and find him, go over any last minute details. But what details really were there? Show up together, and watch as all hell breaks loose. She figured she would not even get in her speech between all the yelling. The speech she perfected so many times before she finally decided that it was the right one. And she couldn't help but notice it was also the one that she did not mention she was in love with him.

Draco decided not to get mad at Hermione for not showing up in the bathroom. He even waited an extra twenty minutes than he ever would have. All they did now was fight, and on this day the last thing they needed to do was fight. After all, they only had each other on their side.

He walked out of the bathroom and down the busy corridors of Hogwarts. He watched as all the students hurried about getting ready for the big evening. Bigger than you think… he shook his head. At first when he woke up this morning he was pretty excited to tell everyone. Now he was just feeling stressed out. And he knew exactly who to blame for that.

Draco was using tonight as an experiment for when he tells his parents. What not to say or do. He knew Harry and Ron would be a little different than his own parents, obviously, but he figured anyone would do.

He was getting worried about Hermione. Ever since her drunken mistake he knew it was taking a huge toll on her, and he was scared. What if something goes horribly wrong? He could lose her, forever.

He huffed in frustration and headed to the Slytherin common room. He had discussed with Hermione where they would meet and at what time. He checked a clock. Exactly nine hours before he would meet up with her at seven.

He loosened his collar, as his neck grew hot. He felt as if all eyes were on him. Maybe he was a little more nervous than he initially thought.

"You excited?" Ginny said as Hermione zipped up her dress.

"Um excited, I don't know if I would say that." Hermione turned her friend around and looked her up and down. "God Gin, you look beautiful." She smiled.

"Thank you," Ginny frowned at Hermione. "Aren't you going to change?" Hermione glanced over at her dress that still lay on the bed in its plastic cover.

"Um yeah, in a minute." Ginny took Hermione's hand and squeezed it.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered to her.

"How do you know?"

"Because you're the girl who knows everything," Ginny smiled, "and I think you would know if you picked the right guy."

"Thank you," Hermione whispered back before pulling her friend in a tight embrace. "I'm just scared," she said over her friends shoulder.

"Love is scary," Ginny said, pulling back.

"I wish it weren't," Hermione walked over to her dress and sat down next to it.

"Who doesn't?" Ginny held out her hand to Hermione, who took it.

"What if they don't talk to me again?" Hermione frowned.

"Then what kind of friends would they be?" Ginny shook their hands, and squeezed them before letting go. "Just be brave and you'll be fine."

"Okay," Hermione sighed.

"Alright I'm going to finish getting dressed. And join the rest of the girls in the bathroom for glamour hour." She winked at her friend. Hermione chuckled.

"See you in there," she watched Ginny walk into the bathroom. Hermione stood up from the bed, the plastic cover rustling together. This was it. She grabbed for the dress. She could not avoid it any longer. Hermione slipped out of her clothes and she felt a chill run up her spine as she pulled the silk fabric onto her skin. It was a navy blue strapless that had ruffles at the bottom that went around the dress but stopped on her lower back so in the front the ruffles went diagonally down the dress. It was breath taking and she looked wonderful in it. But felt anything but inside. She paired it with a chunky silver necklace. She then went into the bathroom, and against her protests, Ginny had put on her a lot more makeup than she would have wanted, and curled her hair into a more tamed look.

She stared at herself in the mirror. Now this was a girl that Draco Malfoy deserved, maybe on the outside but she wasn't so sure on the inside.

Her hand went over her stomach again as she told herself to take slow breaths. Her nerves were driving her crazy. She felt more on edge than ever before. In the past six years she had battled with so much, yet this seemed like one of the scariest things she had yet to do. How could one man bring her to the edge like this?

He got what he wanted. She brought a shaky hand up to her face. At the beginning, all he wanted was for her to go insane from him, drive her right off the edge. And he had done just that.

"Are you ready?" Hermione, startled from her thoughts, looked over uneasily at Ginny as she dropped her hand from her face.

"Um, yeah, just go on ahead." She told her.

"No, come on, let's walk together." Hermione shook her head.

"It's fine, just go on without me. I'll see you in there." Ginny looked worriedly at her friend.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh huh," Hermione said, unconvincingly. "I just need a few minutes to myself." Ginny nodded, understandingly.

"Alright, see you there." She gave a small smile to her before leaving the room. Luckily, Lavender and Parvati had left only minute before.

Hermione stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom. She opened her drawer and grabbed at the familiar item, getting a flash of herself in the mirror. She looked different.

Hermione walked over to the bedroom door and grabbed for the handle. "Oh god," she muttered, putting her forehead on the cool wood. This was really happening. Yet she felt as if she were in a dream. A nightmare.

She took slow breaths trying to calm herself down. It was time. She turned the doorknob and opened it, feeling sick to her stomach.

Hermione made her way out of the common room and down the moving staircases. When she got to the floor she needed to be on she stopped in her tracks. Panic washing over her. She looked down the corridor to the right, where the dance was and where Draco was waiting for her. And then she looked down the other corridor to her left, where darkness seemed to fill the empty hall. She held up her dress and slipped off her high heels.

Hermione looked down the right hallway again, closed her eyes, and muttered an apology. Before she took off down the left hallway, high heels in one hand, her heart thudding in her chest, and all she thought she stood for, still left behind in that spot, wondering what would have happened if she went the right way.

A/N- I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes yesterday, Tom was looking mega gorgeous as always, he did a great job too. Awesome movie, recommend you see it if you still haven't.

And I know all of you have been waiting for the moment Harry and Ron find out, I promise you it will take place in the next chapter! So until then, review please!

Brittany